Melissa grew up as a summer kid in Sandwich, where her time fishing with her dad and playing with friends and neighbors on the beach shaped her love of the ocean.  After graduating college in upstate New York and working a desk job in Connecticut, she moved to Wellfleet, where she spends almost every day on the water as a shellfisherman.

She finds her yoga and meditation practice a grounding part of her life that steadies her ship in calm and rough seas, and continues to come back to her mat as a form of ritual, or sadhana.  With athletic roots and a keen interest in building resilience in the body and mind, she focuses on balancing strength and mobility to support longevity.  It is through this mind-body connection that she finds the gateway to spirit, and the space of magnificent ease.  Sharing her practice with others brings her great joy, and she relishes these moments of connection on and off the mat.  As Ram Dass says, "we're all just walking each other home."  

She completed 200-hr training with Joe Miller and Muriel Murphy in 2014.  Along the way, she has studied with many teachers, and continues to be inspired by Tias Little, Tiffany Cruikshank, and Carrie Owerko.